torah fund - The Jewish Theological Seminary

APPENDIX A: SPEECHES AND REPORTS
A solicitation letter can easily be personalized. To personalize it, if you are using Word, please
use the Mail Merge option. Think about what parts of the letter you want personalized and then
create an Excel spreadsheet in which each column contains one of the personalized pieces.
The heading for the column will appear in the letter as you write it, and then, when the merge
is complete, you will have a fully personalized letter. For instance, a letter to be sent to a
Special Gifts donor from last year would be personalized with: (1) Full Name, (2) Address, (3)
First Name, (4) Special Gift Name, (5) Amount Given Last Year, (6) Amount Requested This
Year, and (7) Amount Requested for Plus Giving. For this letter, your Excel spreadsheet should
have seven columns. Below are examples of letters, bulletin articles, talks, divrei Torah, and
other materials you can adapt to your own campaign.
CAROL GOPMAN
Each of you makes a difference:
CENTRAL GREAT LAKES
YOU have dedicated the egalitarian Women’s League Seminary Synagogue and Educational
Pavilion.
YOU have provided scholarships supporting student rabbis, cantors, and educators at all four
schools for Conservative Judaism—from New York to California, from Israel to Argentina.
YOU have built residence halls and created sculpture gardens.
YOU have added 500 library shelves at The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary.
YOU have created a gathering place for students in the JTS quadrangle.
For over 68 years, through Torah Fund, members of the Women’s League for Conservative
Judaism have provided the place, the resources, and the spiritual setting. Today, we are
focusing on the men and the women—our future clergy and leaders.
Your financial support of the 2012/5772 Torah Fund Campaign, Hiddur Mitzvah, will provide
scholarships for students at The Jewish Theological Seminary, the Ziegler School of Rabbinic
Studies, the Schechter Institute, and Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano.
YOU ensure the future of Conservative Judaism.
ARTICLE OR TALK
DEBBI GOLDICH, MID ATLANTIC
This year’s Torah Fund theme, Hiddur Mitzvah, speaks specifically to us as Jewish women.
Hiddur Mitzvah means to embellish and beautify our Jewish world. The concept is attributed to
a verse in the Song of the Sea (Exodus 15:2), which has long been believed to have been written
and sung by Miriam. Miriam, our first woman leader, recognized her role as such. But,
perhaps more importantly, she recognized that we are a people that glorify our connection
with God by appreciating all of the beauty in the world that God has created and given to us.
As women and keepers of our homes, we beautify our Shabbat table with challah covers,
Miriam’s cup, and tablecloths. We hang pictures and Jewish symbols such as the hamsa
throughout our homes. We hang color-matched mezuzot on our doorposts. We polish our
Shabbat candlesticks to keep them shining. On the High Holidays and Pesah, we bring out
family heirloom pieces that belonged to our grandmothers and great-grandmothers to
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